music note

One of my new coworkers studied cello in college. He is understandably pleased that I no longer have Pachelbel's Canon in D as my ringtone. He was surprised that I knew he hated that song - and *why* - the moment he said he'd played cello. (I played the 1st and 2nd violin parts in school.)

We had a bit of fun talking music. I'd heard him playing the Nutcracker Suite, so I handed him my headphones and tuned up TSO's Mad Russian's Christmas.

My. I think it scared him.

Testing quote of the day

From Software Testing Fundamentals: Methods & Metrics by Marnie L. Hutcheson, under "Traditional Definitions of Quality That Are Not Applicable". (A few comments in blue are me.) Philip B. Crosby is probably best remembered for his book, Quality Is Free (Mentor Books, 1992). [...] The major emphasis is on doing things right the first time. Crosby maintains that this quality is free and that what costs dearly is the rework that you must do when you don't do it right at the get-go. According to Mr. Crosby's teachings: The definition of quality is "conformance with requirements". Assumes clear requirements! The system for achieving quality is "prevention, not cure". Assumes you know all the necessary pieces before you get started! [...] These conceps are most certainly laudable, but they require a very high level of discipline and maturity to carry out. The fact is that this set of concepts doesn't fit the commercial software development process. [...] Overplanning and underplanning the product are two of the main failings in software development efforts today. Coming from the shrinkwrap world, I've seen the dangers of underplanning. How can overplanning be a concern? Hint: What are you building? What's your budget, and what's the best use of it? At what point are you spending more money on process than you will be able to recoup through sales?

Test scripts considered harmful

I dislike detailed procedural test scripts, and not just because I hate writing them. (Maintaining them is worse!) They encourage stale / rote testing, discourage creativity, and generally suck. Nice to see I'm not the only one - Jonathan Kohl & Shrini agree. I especially liked Johnathan's example "dev script".

A script is useful to someone who is learning the product. However: Should you have inexperienced folks who don't know what's going on doing the testing?

test automation

Jonathan Kohl also has good things to say about Test Automation. A sample:

"Test automation" is a valuable tool we can use in our tester's toolbox to help us do more effective testing. It does not and can not replace a human tester, particularly at the end-user level. It is a sharp tool though, and we can easily cut ourselves with it. Most test automation efforts fail because they don't take software development architecture into account, they don't plan for maintenance, and they tend to be understaffed, and are often staffed by non-programmers. [...] Anyone who claims they can do software test automation without programming is either very naive themselves, or they think you are naive and are trying to sell you something.

Kohl points out the connections between trivializing software testing, thinking that testing itself can be automated (not just some tasks), and poor results. Some of you will nod at Kohl's observation that

When we get it wrong in test automation, [the fallout] is more insidious; it may take a long time to realize a problem is there. By that time, it might be too late. Customers are quietly moving on to competitors, talented testers are frustrated and leaving your company to work for others.

If you're new to test automation, a good primer is Architectures of Test Automation (PDF) by Cem Kaner.

BTW: I know there are 6-7 pro testers / former testers who read my LJ semi-regularly. Also devs & other software folk. Are you comfortable discussing this stuff openly or should I create a filter?

One more...QA vs Testing

Suppose that you were running a QA group and the programmers made a lot of time-related bugs. Could you send the programmers out for retraining? Could you require them to adopt the new practices? Could you give bonuses to the ones who made the most progress? If you don’t have the authority to manage and train the programming staff, then you don’t have the power to assure quality. If you do have that power, your title is probably Vice-President of Product Development, not Manager of Quality Assurance. Testing groups and testing-plus-other-measurements groups are doing Quality Assistance not assurance.
- Cem Kaner in The Impossibility of Complete Testing

This is why I tried several times to change my former title from Quality Assurance Manager to Software Test Manager....

how to make a mix CD

...for someone you hate. Stand-up comedy, uses quicktime.

http://www.difm.net/baldo/Stella.html